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Sterkelv
Geography The land of Sterkelv is a relatively variant land in its natural holdings. To the south the land is hard and hilly, badlands that run into those of Palas Caercia and are as equally unfit for human habitation, however unlike Palas Caercia which thrives from the Caercian Seas, Sterkelv strives from the bounty provided by the Sterkelv, a mighty river that runs north from the hilly badlands to the Vestlig Sea to the west and all the way to the ocean proper at the farthest northern tip of Sterkelv. The largest settlements of human habitants are Forksby and Haricksby which lie within the area known as The Fork, the area lying between two tributaries to the Sterkelv proper that feed into the Vestlig Sea and on the Norvest Penninsula, the stretch of land that juts out of the western side of Sterkelv respectively. Smaller villages and thorps lie along the Sterkelv Proper and in total the numbers living along the river easily outnumber the population of the two larger settlements. People The land of Sterkelv is home to a hearty and powerful brand of humans. Similar in breadth and complexion to the men of Palas Ritius and Pavonia but often with fairer hair and brighter eyes the men of Sterkelv are a proud and honor focused people. The men are of shorter height than Caercian men, though broad and with a propensity for great musculature and the women are often as tall as the men, themselves shaped in the direction that hard work and a warrior’s life takes them. The common women are said to be beautiful to behold by Caercian explorers, but nothing compared to the Sterkelv noble women, said to be pleasingly plump and excessively fair. The men are often bearded, wearing their facial hair in thick knots and their hair long and braided or cropped short and kept out of their way. They wear simple furs and leathers as clothing but seem to be quite intelligent in their way of life despite their simple, somewhat brutish appearance. The women braid their hair or crop it short in fashion similar to the men, marking a culture that sees hunting as a right just as much of a woman as a man. They dress similar to their male counterparts as well although nobler women often wear finer furs and less of them than the more practical minded common women. History From what the Caercian Riders and dignitaries have so far gathered the Sterkelvs are, among the various jobs that make up any society, primarily hunters/fishers and occasionally raiders. It has been gathered that the only two united fronts are the two major cities, Forksby and Haricksby. The two cities follow similar clan structure with a high chieftain at the top accompanied by a hird of housecarls that protect the chieftain and maintain their peace and law over their dominion. Each city has existed for seemingly about one hundred years and neither has had much interaction with the other outside marriages and agreements of alliance that have never been followed through on. The two cities differ in that while in Forksby the primary source of wealth and economy comes from gnarl and peryton hunting the primary economic force in Haricksby is raids on the lands west of them, across the narrow gap of the Vestlig Sea and across the Norvest Peninsula itself. It has been gathered that over the past few years the activities of Haricksby have netted it much more wealth and prestige than its southern neighbor and it is said that Cassius Caercia and his son Awstin have set up camp within Haricksby and are treating with the chieftain while Awstin courts the chieftain’s eldest daughter, a buxom blonde with plenty to offer a man if the rumors of the Caercian troops are to be believed. In the past few years the Caercian colonizing forces have begun to lead the Sterkelv to unification and to joining with Palas Caercia. Awstin has wed the Haricksby chieftain's eldest daughter, Enga Harick and she has taken the name Enga Harick Caercia, with their unification Awstin's father, Cassius saw to a promise of aid to chief Kronar Harick, venturing south to Forksby with the Harick Hird and the Caercian's own Riders, a show of force accompanying offers of gifts and an invitation to pledge their loyalty to the newly reinforced Harick clan, soon to be led by Awstin of Caercia, an invitation which was accepted both out of fear of the foreigners and northern raiders teaming against them militarily and for a desire to benefit from the increasing power and prestige the Harick Clan was already experiencing. With the two major population centers having pledged themselves to Caercian control, Cassius left Awstin to tend to those two and ventured out into the various holdings of the unaffiliated clans and villages. One by one they fell to charm or promise of brighter futures, or intimidation in rare occasions, and now Sterkelv stands as a new Caercian territory ready for further colonization and intermingling. For his work in taming the frontier and bringing it into the Caercian fold, Cassius Caercia, son of the Lord Protector Markus Caercia, is granted the title of Protector of Sterkelv, with the title to be passed on through his male line. The Protector of Sterkelv shall sit in a space between the Caercian Council and the Lord Protector and shall be granted all rights to run and facilitate the region of Sterkelv, including forming his own Sterkelv Council, and appointing administrators to positions within Sterkelv as needed. Having grown increasingly Caercian in culture Sterkelv now serves as a source for great warriors, generals, and admirals for the greater Caercian Consortium. The Perytons native to the region have seen a rise in rider culture similar to that of Palas Caercia regarding its horses, breeding a more defined aristocracy of officers and commanders who take to the sky to command their men as those of Palas Caercia take to the head of a Cavalry maneuver. The rough edges of a more barbaric people still creep in on the more refined Caercian ways of life but already many in Sterkelv are happy citizens of the Caercian Consortium and the Greater Imperium. Resources The two most widely used and known resources of Sterkelv are also two of the land’s fiercest predators. The Gnarl is a nocturnal carnivore, similar in size to a great wolf the gnarls of Sterkelv are a strange creature to be sighted by those not familiar with them. Appearing somewhat plant like, gnarls have thick coats of bark-like skin that protects them and allows them to hunt perytons without fear of being quickly torn to shreds by the talons of their prey. Gnarls have sharp claws, composed of the same hardened wood/bone of their skin and three rows of sharp wood/bone teeth. Gnarls seemingly have no eyes or ears and most who hunt them believe they sense heat as they are much less active during the colder months and there have been tales of men lying in snow being passed over by a hunting gnarl. Their heads and upper bodies are twice as wide as their rear bodies, giving them a hunched and aggressive appearance and their lack of external sensory organs only makes them even more frightening. Despite their danger and the threat they pose to the humans of Sterkelv the gnarl is a respected and useful tool to the native inhabitants, its meat is packed with nutrients and it serves as a staple for any grand feast or celebration. Its strange skin also finds use among the Sterkelv natives who use it as simple armor or clothing and once dried their bark skin becomes quite sensitive to flame and resistant to water, making it easily the most useful kindling to have readied for any excursion into the wilderness. The other common resource of Sterkelv is the Peryton, a winged elk like creature smaller than a common elk but much larger than any other known bird to exist. The peryton is seen by most in Sterkelv as an honorable and dangerous creature of majestic beauty. It is not hunted by the humans of Sterkelv but it is the natural prey to the gnarl and it is not unknown for a peryton to attack a man who is not careful in his travels or in his interactions with the creature. Suspicious belief among the natives holds that perytons only kill the unjust and thus that any who die by their claw or bite were guilty of some great crime and deserving of their punishment. For this reason a few perytons are captured, though the art of taming the creatures lies outside the bounds of Sterkelv knowledge, and used within the courts of law to dispatch those found guilty of crimes against their people. The colonizing Caercian force has noted the appearance of what appears to be the dark purple-black ore said by metallurgists who have studied foreign metals to be signs of admantine dotting the rockier parts of the land in the south but currently it seems the Sterkelv people do not have any large scale mining operation in place and so, for now, the bounty lays un-utilized. The people of Sterkelv, in the cities especially, greatly desire some form of herd animal, to make their lives easier. The sparse amount of tamable animals native to Sterkelv has made growing beyond simple hunting and gathering very difficult and the cities exist solely because of small scale fishing and demands of tribute from hunters, or in the case of Haricksby, raids on the western peoples. Religion The Sterkelv adhere to a simple pagan belief system that places a sky father god above a pantheon of various deities controlling aspects of the natural world and the emotions of men. There is no dedicated priesthood, only elders who speak for the gods in the various towns and cities. The chieftains of the two largest cities each claim to have been chosen by the sky father to lead their people and act as religious as well as governmental heads. References http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18019881&postcount=36 Category:Regions Category:Regions in the Salterri Imperium Category:Regions of Telluris